

LETTER TO A SO]>t 


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CHRISTIAN BELIEF 


BY SAMUEL HART; 


WITH A. MEMOIH 


AND INTRODUCTION, 


BY HIS DAUGHTER, 


ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS 


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BALTIMOKE: 

CHAS. HARVEY & CO., PRINTERS, 
No. 3 Poet Office Avenue. 

1875. 



















A BRIEF MEMOIR 

OF 

SAMUEL HA^RT. 


As life advances, we become more interested in what relates to our immedi¬ 
ate ancestors; the value of their good name is more appreciated by descend¬ 
ants, and we become more sensitive to any imputations upon their characters. 
These considerations should have their weight upon those who are now acting 
their part in life, establishing a reputation for good or evil 

The last of her generation, the youngest child, and only survivor of a large 
family, the writer feels that in this little tribute to the memory of her Father, 
she is discharging a last filial duty; and in doing this, she is also rescuing 
from oblivion the forcible arguments for the Christian faith, found among 
time-worn manuscripts. In the following Letter, which was with difficulty 
deciphered, the old spelling and free use of Capitals is retained. May none 
of the descendants of that great-good man grudge a careful and attentive study 
of the Letter, regarding it as if addressed especially to himself. 

Samuel Hart was born in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1737; his mother, Mary 
Hooker, was third in descent from Thomas Hooker, through whom he was 
allied to the Edwardses, Dwights, Wolseys, &c. His father was a descend¬ 
ant of Stephen Hart, who, with Hooker, was one of the original proprietoi-s of 
Cambridge, and founder of the Connecticut Colony. 

The sister of the writer, Mrs. Emma Willard, has given the following testi¬ 
mony in. respect to this progenitor of the Hart family, and of the origin of 
the name of Hartford. 

“ In searching ancient records of Connecticut, when writing the poem, 
‘ Our Fathers,’ for the Farmington Centennial Celebration (in 1840, two hun¬ 
dred years from the first settlement of that place,) I found evidence vdiich 
satisfied me that it was our ancestor, Stephen Hart, who crossed the wilderness 
with Hooker (and not one of his Deacons); and it appears that he was the 
leader of the little colony which went off in 1640 (as near as could be shewn) 
to Farmington; his name stood first of the party on the original deed of 
‘ Tunxis,’ (the Indian name) which was given by tlie Indian Sachems. He is 
doubtless the Hart of Hartford ; His name appears on the pillar erected to the 
founders of the City; his having his residence on the North side of the river, 
e. the Little River (for the Connecticut has no North side) confirms me in the 
opinion that Hartford is a contraction of Harts-fm'd; there is such a tradi¬ 
tion.” 

We have thus given the Statement by Mrs. Willard, to which we will add, 
that Henry Barnard, L. L. D., informed the writer (in August, 1874) that in an 
ancient map of the City, was Harfs-ford on the Jdttle Biver; and the Hon. 
S. H. Huntington, about the same fnne, stated that the coat of arras of the city 
was a “ hart crossing a fordi' It would seem that the truth of Mrs. Willard’s 
opmion was thus established; but others affirm that the city was named from 
irfrtford in England ; it would seem as if, in this case, there would have been 
a/fled the term “New,” as in “ New-Haven,” “ New-Milford,” &c. But as 
neither life nor property is concerned in this question, the Hart family may, 
without injury to others, look on their side of the question as at least possible ; 
endeavoring to do no discredit to a city, which, without doubt or dispute, ov^es 
its origin to the united efforts of their ancestors, Thomas Hooker and Stephen 
Hart. 



4 


We will close this brief Memoir by a quotation from a poem of Emma 
Willard, in memory of her Father, who died August 21, 1813. 

“ To show, a virtuous parent as he was, 

I ask no muse poetic to stand by 
With phrase adorned:—Thee, Truth, I woo to aid me— 
******* 

And oh, would’st thou write down his character. 

And make mankind acknowledge thine impress. 

Then would misanthropy, the while she read. 

Lose all her hate and be transform’d to pity:— 

* * * * Knavery too. 

And wily policy would hang their heads. 

And blush; losing their old excuse, that not 
With man dwells honesty by interest 
Unswerved. The comprehensive honesty 
Of noble souls was his; not that alone. 

Whose highest boast is punctuality 
In traffic. This he owned ; he ne’er withheld 
Another’s due, though ’twere untold, unknown ; 

This of his honesty was the smaller part. 

He felt respect was due to worth, to virtue; 

To those though indigent and meanly clad, 

» He rendered it; but little weight with him 
Had circumstance of elevated birth. 

Of wealth, or popularity, or splendor. 
******* 

He knew that fame was dearer far than gold. 

And ne’er did he a reputation steal; 

Thus was he honest to himself, thus to 
His fellow men; and far as finite man’s 
Conception goes, was honest to his God. 
******* 

Such pious thoughts bore him above the world. 

And when old age and its attending ills. 

With painful maladies came hand in hand. 

Serene he met them all. * * * 

******* 

Death was to him the messenger of love. 

And in his Father’s arms he fell asleep.” 

This poem closes with an apostrophe to our Mother: of her we shall briefly 
say, that she was in all respects worthy to be the companion of her husband, 
to whom she gave both love and “ reverence.”* It was proverbial in the fam¬ 
ily, that no dissension or domestic jar had ever been witnessed between the 
parents. Our Mother was the sister of Kev. Theodore Hinsdale, from whom a 
town in Massachusetts is named. 

The following epitaph written by. her daughter, Emma, appears on her 
monument in Berlin, Connecticut. 

“ The generous self-devotion in the various relations of Daughter, Sister, 
Wife and Mother, are best known to those who best knew her; but that hope 
of salvation which made her life cheerful, and her death, serene, was in the 
mercy of God, through a Saviour.” 

This little pamphlet is dedicated to the descendants of her Father, who are 
earnestly requested to give serious attention to his arguments and admonitions, 
by 

ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS. 

EUTAW PLACE, 

Haltimore, Maryland, Jamiary ls<, 1875. 


* Ephesians v. 33. 



INTRODUCTION. 


The present day witnesses agitations in the Churches—we 
know not to what they may tend. Development may be at 
hand, such as the human mind has not dreamed of. But the 
Christian Believer should be resigned to wait for the fulfilment 
of the Divine word ; leaving the Church of God in His care 
who has said, “ the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; ” at 
the same time, Christians must work^ according to the Divine 
command. 

We see nominal Christians living in violation of their pro¬ 
fessed belief—men holding ofiices of honor and trust, while 
they profess to believe in the Christian religion, virtually in 
their lives, condemn and deny it. In affairs of the world, such 
conduct would be condemned; men are expected to go with 
their party—if satisfied that this party is wrong, then they 
should repudiate its principles. Far better for religion that 
men should be open enemies than treacherous friends. 

Again, we see some who have had a religious education, 
whose hearts have been affected by the great truths of the gos¬ 
pel, but the world has drawn them aside; they have tried to 
smother the voice of conscience by dwelling upon the sins and 
inconsistencies of professors of religion, until they have come to 
the conclusion that religion is worthless, if not false. Their 
Sundays are spent in worldly business, indolence, or sinful in¬ 
dulgences. 

The sceptical scientist, bewildered amidst his speculations as 
to the origin of sjpecies and “ evolution from primordial cells^'’ 
throwing aside Divine Revelation, becomes bewildered, mak¬ 
ing “ shipwreck of faith,” if not a good conscience.” 

The professed Deist is at least honest in his infidelity; he 
does not believe the Bible, of course he is not subject to its 
commands:—by such, the following Letter on Christian belief 
may be read with advantage; it exalts human reason, and shews 
that Revelation is not contrary to, but only above reason. 




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The Atheist, who sees no God in nature, and imagines that 
all the harmony and perfection of the Universe is the result of 
chance, may not be amenable to any argument:—we must 
leave him to his all powerful ‘^protoplasm ; ” but praying that 
the Holy Spirit may dawn on his mind, and enlighten his moral 
darkness. We find Professor Tyndall acknowledging, in mo¬ 
ments of deeper feeling, that his mind is at times overwhelmed 
with a sense of the Omnipotence which is revealed in the 
works of nature;—and yet, by “ the glare of false science be¬ 
trayed,” his thoughts again wander ofi* to the dark, and “ Un¬ 
knowable.” 

It may be that even the intellectual scientist will, in reading 
the following Letter, be led to feel the “ Force of Truth,” as so 
simply, and yet logically exhibited. 

If we give up our Christian Belief, we have nothing to guide 
us through the dark waters of human life; with the Bible we 
have a chart, rudder and compass to carry us safely to the 
shores of eternity. 



LETTER BY SAMUEL HART, 

Written^ as is supposed^ more than a Century since ^ and recently found among old 
manuscripts. 

On the Evidences of the Cheistian Faith, feom the Reason 
AND Natuee of Things. 


My Deae Son : 

As there is great danger of Bigotry and Superstition on the one 
hand in matters of Religion, so likewise, under a notion of freedom 
and liberality of sentiment, we may, perhaps, be in great danger of 
running into Scepticism and Licentiousness on the -other; which of 
the two extreams is most dangerous, perhaps is not easily determined, 
but doubtless, it is best for us, if possible, to avoid both; and in or¬ 
der thereto, I think there is nothing more necessary than to attend 
carefully to the most important, the fundamental principles of all 
Religion, which are so plain and obvious that unless we offer violence 
to our own Reason, we necessarily assent to them: and then that 
we proceed in drawing our inferences with the utmost caution, lest 
we get beyond our proper sphere, confound our own reason, and 
lose ourselves in the depths of abstruse Speculation. 

Self-evident propositions are the foundation of all reasoning and 
argumentation; and some of the first Inferences drawn from them 
may be as plain and undeniable, as those of self-evident proposi¬ 
tions, themselves: and every inference rightly drawn, is just as true 
as the proposition from whence it is derived; for truth is always 
invariably consistent with itself: but our Intellectual faculties are 
^ so contracted that we can proceed but a little way before we get 
confounded and overwhelmed with a multiplicity of Ideas: 

“ Not much to comprehend, not much to know, 

Mankind was made to Wonder and Adore.”— Young. 

Religion consists not in extensive, refined, dark and abstruse spec¬ 
ulations, but in a right Temper of mind, in feeling reconciled to the 
most important truths, which, as before observed, are plain and ob¬ 
vious. Seeking to be wise, we become fools. While .we are anx¬ 
iously engaged in prying into things beyond our comprehension, we 
often, if not always, betray the wickedness and pride of our own 
hearts. 

“ Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell. 

Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebel.”— Pope 




8 


That there is a Supream Being who presides as an absolute Sov¬ 
ereign over the Universe, from whom all creatures have derived 
their existence, and by whom all things are upheld and preserved, 
is a truth proclaimed by all nature : that this Supream Being, who 
must necessarily he Self-Existent and Independent, is likewise In¬ 
finitely perfect, and in every way fit to Rule and Govern the Uni¬ 
verse, and that all events that ever take place are by Him over¬ 
ruled in the Wisest and Best Manner, we can have no reason to 
doubt. That we ourselves are dependent, exceeding weak and im¬ 
perfect ; but newly brought into existence, we know not how, unable 
to protect, defend or preserve ourselves, we must needs he sensible. 
Now what can be more reasonable than for such dependent creatures 
to feel for the Supream Being the highest degree of Reverence and 
Submission, and that we should voluntarily subject ourselves to His 
Government and Disposal? Hence then, we see the propriety of 
that Law which requires Supream Love to God :— And when we 
consider our fellow-creatures as Children of the same Original Pa¬ 
rent, standing in the same relation to Him, having the same wants, 
the same capacities, the same desires to be happy as ourselves, we 
readily see the reasonableness and equity of the requirement, “ Thou 
shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself.” These two precepts, viz: 
Love to God, and our Neighbour, comprehend the whole Moral Law, 
and are found in the Reason and Nature of things, as resulting 
from the relations in which Creatures stand to their Creator, and to 
one another. All that is required of us is, that we feel towards, 
and treat everything, as being what it is. This Eternal rule of 
Righteousness, as it is founded on the Nature of Things, must be 
immutable and unchangeable, and forever binding upon all Rational 
Creatures; and the character of each one must be denominated 
Righteous or Wicked according as this being is conformed, or not con¬ 
formed to the Rule. “ The Transgression of the Law is Sin.” 

Thus far we go on safe and sure ground in asserting the absolute 
Independence, infinite Perfection and Supremacy of the Divine 
Being; our own Dependence upon Him, and the obligations we are 
under to yield a perfect obedience to Divine Law ; and with equal 
certainty, I think, we may proceed farther, and from what we are 
conscious of in ourselves, and perceive in our fellow-creatures, we 
may, nay, we must, infer, that we are in a state of Disobedience, and 
consequently in a state of Condemnation, and had we nothing but 
our own weak Reason and the Dim Light of Nature to direct our 


9 

Inquiries farther, we, should here find ourselves involved in inex¬ 
tricable difficulties. 

Let our Sentiments be what they may respecting ^\Original Sin," 
“ Total Depravity" and the like, yet if we Believe, what no one can pre¬ 
tend to deny, that we are guilty of actual Sin, have in fact, transgressed 
the Divine Law;—by what means shall we ever satisfy the Demands of 
that Law ? Must we not forever remain guilty, and liable to suffer 
the penalty annexed thereto ? what assurance could we have that it 
would be possible for us, after we had once offended, ever to obtain 
the Divine Favour? What can we render to the Almighty for the 
dishonor done to His Name by our transgressing His Holy Laws? 
All the obedience we are capable of rendering, is but our reasonable 
Duty. If we could have any hope at all in the case, it must be in 
the Meer Sovereign Mercy of God ; which, how it could he exercised 
in pardoning Transgressors and receiving them into favour, consist¬ 
ently with the Honour of the Divine Character, Law and Govern¬ 
ment, we must have been forever at a loss. It appears to me that 
without a Revelation from the Divine Being, we must have been to¬ 
tally in the dark with respect to this matter. How might we Ear¬ 
nestly wish, in such a situation, that the Almighty would let us 
know that He was reconcilable to Sinners, that a way was found out 
wherein mercy could be exercised consistently with the Divine At¬ 
tributes, and without the least derogation from the Honour of Di¬ 
vine Law and Government! 

Now if God has seen fit to make to us such a Revelation, to let 
us know that we may be restored to His favour, notwithstanding our 
guilt, how thankfully should we receive such a message ! If there 
be “ Peace on Earth and Good Will to Man,” let us ascribe “ Glory 
to God in the Highest.” 

Let Deistical Libertines show how a Sinner, one who has broken 
the Divine Lar:, can make satisfaction to the justice of God, repair 
the Honour of that broken Law, and reinstate himself into the Di¬ 
vine favour; if they can do this, then let them burlesque the 
Christian religion as much as they please. 

The Scriptures exactly agree with our Reason so far as they treat 
of things that can be apprehended by the Light of Nature: they 
exhibit the Character of God, the Nature of the Divine Law, the 
Nature of Mankind, their relation to God and to one another, their 
Disobedience to that Law, and their Condemnation thereby; the im¬ 
possibility of their obtaining Salvation by the Deeds thereof, all 


10 


just in tlie same manner as they are apprehended by Eeason: so 
that we do not relinquish one point of Natural Eeligion by admit¬ 
ting the Authority of Divine Eevelation. But where the light of 
Nature fails, and Eeason leaves us in the dark, there the Holy 
Scriptures afford us a blessed relief, and hold forth a Glorious Light; 
they indeed exhibit very grand and sublime mysteries in things far 
beyond the utmost stretch of our understandings to explain, or com¬ 
prehend : but at the same time they contain nothing contrary to, 
or inconsistent with, the calm dictates of unbiassed Eeason. 

The peculiar doctrines of Divine Eevelation all have respect to 
the Atonement, and the way in which Sinners are brought into a 
state of reconciliation and favor with God, through the mediation 
of Jesus Christ. 

The Doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God, 
the Efficiency of the Holy Spirit, in applying the benefits of Christ’s 
atonement, in changing and renewing the hearts of Shiners, and in 
preparing them for the service of God, ,and communion with Him; 

■—all are peculiar to Divine Eevelation, and what our reason could 
never have attained the knowledge of, if God had not revealed 
them to us. It is true that these ■ doctrines contain great and in¬ 
comprehensible mysteries, but this by no means renders them in¬ 
credible. 

The Truths which we gain from the light of Eeason, shew us that 
there is a something beyond, which must be mysterious and mar¬ 
vellous. 

The Christian Eeligion is calculated to answer all the wants and 
necessities of Human nature. It relieves our minds from all those 
fearful doubts, and gloomy apprehensions respecting futurity, which 
otherwise we must necessarily feel from a consciousness of guilt and 
dread of punishment. It assures us that God is willing we should 
be happy, and is ready to receive us to His favour on just -such 
Terms as our Eeason dictates to us that we ought to come to, 
whether God would accept us, or not. It is, in short, that we ac- 
knowedge God’s rightful Authority over us; the perfect equity and 
reasonableness of the Divine Law, and ourselves as guilty and con¬ 
demned Sinners—that we throw down our weapons of rebellion, 
submit to God as an absolute Sovereign, and feeling in our very 
hearts reconciled to that perfect law which condemns us;—and 
that, if God saves us notwithstanding our desert of Punishment, it 
is all of free grace. The amazing debt we had contracted and owed 



11 


to Divine Justice is fully cancelled by the Atonement. INothing 
by way of payment is required of us; every thing we need to corn- 
pleat our felicity, is promised and offered to us on the most reason¬ 
able Terms; only if we will receave it. God not only offers to re- 
ceave us into His favour upon our return to Him, but condescends 
to invite, and even to entreat, and beseech us to accept of Salvation. 
The Language of His word is, “ Look unto me and be ye saved all 
ye ends of the earth.”—“ Ho ! every one that thirsteth come unto 
the waters and Drink.”—“Whoso will, let him take of the water 
of Life freely.”—What can we desire or wish for more? 

Although we are Sinners justly condemned, yet pardOn is freely 
offered, and nothing now stands in the way to prevent our being as 
Happy as our Nature is capable of, but our perverse opposition to 
that which is perfectly Equitable and Eight. 

It is impossible in the Nature of Things, that we should be Happy 
in the enjoyment of the favour of God, without being reconciled to 
Him. It is in vain for us to imagine that the Supream, all-perfect 
Jehovah will Sacrifice the honour of His Divine Character, or suffer 
any alteration or abatement in the requirements of His perfectly Holy 
Law, in complyance with the unreasonable and perverse Temper of 
- His disloyal Subjects; or will save Sinners persisting in Eebellion to 
Him. It is the perfection of God’s Moral Character, His perfect 
j abhorance of Sin, and opposition to it, that renders Him an Object 
y>infinitely worthy of Supream Love and Homage, of the obedience 
and complacency of all Kational Beings. 

Thus, my dear Son, I have endeavoured to lay before you what 
appears to me to be the Essential part of True Religion; that it 
consists of a Right Temper of Mind;—and in being Reconciled to 
• plain and obvious Truths. As Religion is a matter of the Greatest 
Importance of any Thing which concerns us, let me entreat you 
with all the tenderness of Parental affection, and as you value your 
own best Interests, to give your Earnest attention to this Subject. 

I know you have had great exercises of mind about Religion, but 
let me tell you, I fear you dwell too much in the region of dark 
Speculation. I do not object to a modest, candid inquiry, and 
Search after Truth, but remember our chief business is with our 
own Hearts. Be willing that God should keep His Throne, subject 
yourself to His disposal, cast yourself entirely upon Him for pro¬ 
tection and safety, and never question the Wisdom and Equity of 
His Government, and then (let me tell you) whatever may be your 


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outward circumstances, you will feel Calmness and Serenity within 
your own Breast, for none ever trusted in Him and was confounded 
—while on the other hand, none ever hardened their heart against 
God and Prospered. 

I leave these few broken hints to your Serious Consideration, 
praying that you may be so wise as to choose that Good Part which 
shall never be taken away from you. 

To conclude, let me caution you. My Dear Son, to beware lest a 
desire for popularity, of securing the Friendship and Applause of 
the World lead you to despise the meek and humble Spirit of the 
Gospel. “The Friendship of the World is Enmity with God.” 
“If you would be wise, you must become a fool that you may be 
wise.” “He that Exalteth himself shall be abased, but he that 
Humbleth himself shall be Exalted.” “ God resisteth the proud, 
but giveth Grace to the Humble.” Pride is the root and Source of 
all moral evil; while Humility is the foundation of the Christian 
Character. 

That you may know by happy Experience what true Religion is, 
feel the power of it in your own heart, enjoy its peace and comfort 
in this life, and share in its glorious rewards in a state of perfection 
hereafter, is the Sincere Desire and Fervent Prayer of your affec¬ 
tionate Father. 

SAMUEL HART.” 


Inasmuch as faith without works availeth nothing, the Editor 
adds to the Letter on “ Christian Belief,” the following prayer 
for grace to do, according to what God enables us to perceive 
and KNOW; so that our life may be consistent with our belief.' 

(Collect.— For Sunday after Fjjiphany.) 

“ Oh, Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the pray¬ 
ers of Thy people who call upon Thee: and grant that they 
may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, 
and also may have grace and power faitnfully to fulfill the 
same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. — Amen.” 




